I don't remember who first introduced me to this wonderfully inspiring blog, but I am forever grateful for that person, whomever they are. Stephanie Nielson is 28, with a loving husband and four kids. She was a mother of three by the age of 23. She married Christian, her husband, right out of high school, and they've been living happily ever after ever since.
image from here.
image from here.
Stephanie and Christian were in a horrible plane crash on August 16, 2008, and both of them were severely injured; Christian sustained burns on more than 40% of his body, while Stephanie incurred severe burns on more than 80% of her body. She was unconscious for ten weeks after the crash, but she survived. Since then, she has been blogging about her painful recovery. I don't read her blog every day, but every once in a while, I will click over to read how she has progressed. It's a bit uncanny, because I tend to find myself gravitating toward her blog whenever I lose sight of things in my life. It's not like I even consciously think about reading her blog; someone or something will remind me of her story, and I wonder how she's doing. I sometimes become overwhelmed with the day-to-day, and get bogged down by my expectations of what life should be. I can be ungrateful. I can be selfish. I can be materialistic. I am materialistic. But then, I read her blog, and read about her daily struggles; how her children didn't want to hug her because they couldn't recognize her through the burn scars, how difficult it is for her to pick up a pencil, how much she fights every day to get better. It really puts things into perspective.
I love reading her old posts BC, or Before Crash, as she terms it. I love reading the old posts, then reading the newest posts, AC (After Crash). Her spirits seem to be higher and she seems to be doing so much better than she was in the darker days of recovery, and that makes me genuinely happy. Is it even possible to be happy for someone you've never met? I think it is.
She was on Oprah the other day, and I missed it. I was so mad at myself for missing it. Luckily, there is a clip online, but not the actual interview. I recommend you watch the clip and read her blog, if you get a chance any time soon, or any time at all. It may not change you, but it will give you a different outlook. She's amazing, plain and simple (except not simple at all).
